We’re at a point in the year where your fantasy roster should be starting to stabilize and you should know who your strongest players are. Unfortunately, the injury bug has caught up with many rosters and you’ll need to make some adjustments to your roster, whether you planned it or not.
Perhaps the hardest part of making these adjustments is your flex. Few players are clear top fantasy talents or options, and it can feel like you’re blindly guessing which player is the best pick that week. If you don’t have time to look at each player’s matchups, don’t worry—we’ve already done that.
After combing through the Jugo Mobile”In our rankings, we’ve identified five different players you should consider adding to your Flex team this week. If you’ve been on the fence about any of these players, save yourself some time and add them to your roster.
PPR FANTASY RANKINGS FOR WEEK 3
QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST | Kickers
Fantasy Football Week 3 Flex Finder: Sleeper Players Who Could Pay Off at the Flex Position
Diontae Johnson, wide receiver, Carolina Panthers
The Bryce Young era is over at Carolina — at least for now. Andy Dalton is expected to be on the field in Week 3 and should provide some much-needed stability to this offense.
Last season, Young’s excuses included being constantly under siege and his receivers being unable to create separation. The Panthers have addressed both of those issues (to some extent) this season. They’ve beefed up their interior offensive line, and Young has been pressured on 31.3 percent of his dropbacks this season. That pressure rate ranks 20th among QBs according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Carolina also provided Young with one of the league’s best route runners and separators in Diontae Johnson. Young hasn’t benefited from either of those improvements. Twenty-five percent of his throws have been ruled off-target, which ranks second to last among starters, trailing only Anthony Richardson.
Dalton’s presence should do wonders for Johnson’s fantasy value. The thesis on Johnson has always been that he would be a high-level target on a bad offense. Nothing about that thesis has changed. Johnson has been targeted on 24 percent of his routes this season, which ranks 26th among WRs with at least 10 targets this season. Either way, his catch rate is just 41.7 percent. Expect Johnson to continue to see his fair share of targets while getting a boost to his catch rate thanks to higher-quality targets from Dalton.
WEEK 3 FANTASY ROSTER MANAGEMENT TIPS
Buy Low, Sell High | Sleepers | Busts | Usage Report | Inventory Watch | Start/Sit
Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver
Greg Dortch was the cause of many people’s panic in Week 1 after finishing with eight targets while Marvin Harrison Jr. saw just three. Things normalized in Week 2 with Harrison leading the team in both production and usage.
Week 3 could be another “Dortch Week.” The Cardinals will face a Lions defense that has been miserable against slot receivers. Over the last two weeks, the Lions have allowed 28 targets, 21 receptions, and 233 receiving yards to slot receivers. Those slot targets have mostly gone to talented receivers like Cooper Kupp and Chris Godwin, but that’s still the weak point of Detroit’s secondary.
Dortch is Arizona’s primary receiver, lining up inside 66 percent of the time so far this year. If Dortch can take advantage of this advantageous matchup against Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson, he could easily produce double-digit points in PPR leagues.
Devin Singletary, RB, New York Giants
Outside of a few game-changing talents at the top of the position, a running back’s fantasy value is almost entirely determined by his role. Even in a mediocre offense, a well-utilized running back can provide RB2 production.
Devin Singletary is exactly that. For the past two weeks, he’s been the RB25 on the back of bell cow usage. Here are some key notes on his role so far:
- 77% share of snap
- 84% of Giants RB rush attempts
- 38% participation in the course
- 9% target market share
The receiving numbers are a bit lacking, but this is still an incredibly strong role. Unless Tyrone Tracy starts mixing it up at a higher rate, Singletary could be considered a low-end RB2 or Flex option with this type of workload.
WEEK 3 DFS TIPS
The best values | TNF DFS Lineups | Best DFS Stacks
Zack Moss, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Zack Moss is another running back who has been dominating his backfield as of late. In Week 2, the Bengals used Moss almost exclusively.
| Cincinnati Bengals: Week 2 Usage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Position | Instant Share | Attempts to rush Share | Participation in the itinerary | Target share | Rush on the goal line Share |
| Zack Moss | CIN | RB | 84% | 55% | 59% | 3% | 66% |
| Chase Brown | CIN | RB | 16% | 18% | 10% | 0% | 0% |
Much like Singletary, his receiving work leaves something to be desired. At the very least, it’s encouraging to see him running on nearly 60 percent of Joe Burrow’s dropbacks. Overall, that type of usage is essentially a cash cow role in today’s NFL.
Fantasy managers might be discouraged by Moss’ 5.7 points last week. Don’t be — the points will come when Cincinnati’s offense gets into a rhythm. Week 3 presents a clear opportunity for Burrow and the offense to bounce back against a suspect Washington defense. Moss will operate as the primary back and has a good chance of getting a goal-line opportunity to cap off his day.
Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints wide receiver
There’s no other way to put it: Rashid Shaheed is a cold-blooded baseball player. His speed and overall talent in Klint Kubiak’s new system create a product on the field that is simply a joy to watch. In two games with Kubiak’s offense, Shaheed has thrown for touchdowns of 59 and 70 yards.
Shaheed has a very bright outlook for the rest of the season with this new offense. But the Saints’ Week 3 matchup against the Eagles is particularly juicy. The Eagles have used Cover 3 at the third-highest rate of any team this year, deploying it on 51 percent of plays. Shaheed was incredibly effective against Cover 3 last year, averaging 2.43 yards per carry on the route, which ranked 23rd among all receivers. Additionally, deep threats have taken a toll on the Eagles’ defensive secondary this year. Philadelphia’s secondary has allowed the fifth-most yards on deep targets this year. If you haven’t seen Shaheed play, he’s a bit of a deep-ball specialist.
Shaheed isn’t going to catch a 50-yard touchdown every week. But that’s okay; he’s now seeing a steady dose of intermediate targets that can provide him with a stable floor on a weekly basis. If he can take advantage of this game and catch another bomb, we’ll see a 20-plus point week from Shaheed once again.
